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  • 7 months ago
In South Korea, looks can shape careers. From laser treatments to jawline tweaks, young job seekers flock to cosmetic clinics hoping a polished image will boost paychecks, raising questions about beauty, opportunity, and inequality.
Transcript
00:00In South Korea, your face can decide your paycheck.
00:03So people turned to Dr. Chun-Yong Park.
00:06He's an aesthetic physician who's represented South Korea at international pageants.
00:25With hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers,
00:27he says young patients often reach out hoping that small facial tweaks
00:31will lead to greater economic opportunities.
00:35One year ago, I got lots of laser treatment
00:37and also cheek botox that made my face light more slim.
00:44Based on that, I work more confidently and I earn a lot than previous income.
00:51His clinic is in Gangnam, a district with over 400 cosmetic and plastic surgery centers
00:58in a single square mile, where intense competition drives prices down.
01:04Despite laws against discriminatory hiring,
01:07young people feel how they look really can influence if they are hired.
01:11And many job seekers take extra steps to create a polished image
01:15by visiting photo studios which specialize in creating the perfect CV image.
01:20But not everyone follows these rules.
01:23We hate these kinds of feminine norms.
01:26So I don't still wear makeups at all.
01:30I don't wear skirts or heels.
01:34Still, the pressure to look a certain way is deeply entrenched in South Korean society.
01:39And as clinics boom, offering competitive prices,
01:43job seekers continue to chase that perfect look,
01:47underpinning the vital question of whether this industry
01:50is fueling opportunity or in fact deepening inequality.
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